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British Question
The British Question, sometimes called the British Problem, is a dispute over the status of British colonies following the British Revolution beginning in mid-1925. Although a variety of permanent and temporary solutions have been proposed and implemented in various regions, it is considered largely unresolved. Origins As the British Revolution gradually swept the country, scattered and often confusing reports filtered out to the colonies, creating an atmosphere of uncertainty and unease. By the time the flight of the Royal Family to Canada was announced and London fell, most dominions and colonies faced widespread panic and growing unrest. Though largely self-sustaining, and with their own military forces, the Dominions turned inward - committed to maintaining order and ensuring their own survival. Without the promised aid from the Dominions or Britain itself, colonial administrations across the Empire faced the very real threat of revolt by their own native subjects, and India - the Empire's "Crown Jewel" - fell into civil war. In China The British Question is often considered to have been raised by the controversial "Severn Note", sent by Hong Kong's Governor Claud Severn on the 24th of July 1925. Faced by the withdrawal of the China Station to Australasia, and Kuomintang troops massing nearby, Severn appealed to the German Governor-General in Tonkin for protection. Severn's appeal was soon answered by the arrival of 3,000 German colonial troops, and at this stage their presence was justified by the notion of collective security - that all foreign powers in China had a shared interest in ensuring their treaties were upheld. However at the same time Britain's inability to defend its colonies was laid bare, and soon thereafter the tensions in East Asia, which had seemed largely resolved by the Tsingtau Accords three years earlier, were reignited. Fearing one or the other might seize the remainder of Britain's concessions and colonies in the East, both Germany and Japan raced to take whatever they could hold, with Germany taking Weihaiwei, while Japan seized large portions of both Shanghai and Tianjin. Stand-offs began on the streets of several major concessions, and the other powers with interests in China soon joined the action, most notably the United States. Most concessions remained partitioned well into 1928, and the situation became normalized. However in 1928, continuing German-Japanese tensions and China's chaotic internal conditions led to the Jade Wind Crisis, which escalated the situation considerably, and led the United States to offer to mediate, reduce tensions, and establish an acceptable peace. The subsequent Shanghai Conference justified earlier claims that Britain could no longer be considered "responsible" for the protection of its own colonies, making this the first time such claims were recognized by the British Government residing in Canada. Subsequently the Legation Treaty, a product of the conference, put the various international concessions in China under a single collectively-managed mandate, excluding Japan's Kwantung Leased Territory, Germany's Shandong Possessions, and Portuguese Macau, which were deemed to fall outside the treaty's remit. Although the Legation Treaty can be considered a permanent solution to the British Question in China, as it nominally places all nations on equal footing, Britain is currently limited to an observer status on the Legation Council. It has long been suggested that a restored British Government may take issue with the nature of the treaty, and consider it to have been signed under duress. In Southeast Asia In Africa